Abe Herbaugh: Sandblasted Tomato with Horn Tobacco Pipe

American artisan Abe Herbaugh has become one of the United States' most celebrated carvers, having cultivated an aesthetic primarily rooted in the classical Danish school, often complete with sophisticated, organic detail in his signature style. Herbaugh's renditions of the Tomato boast a universally charming plumpness about their outlines, though each version of the profile that he crafts showcases some singular element of construction that sets them apart from the others. In this particular case, Herbaugh has dramatized the upper portion of the bowl, which here displays a steep, arcing taper to the rim that lends some extra height to both the walls and the chamber. Though the bowl is a bit taller than the last Tomatos we've seen from the artisan, it still maintains an impressive squatness that's all the more apparent by virtue of the bowl's remarkable breadth. The walls are supported by a gently lifting heel, which pushes the low-set waist into prominence and sets it at a very slight angle that affords the silhouette a dynamic bit of momentum toward the fore. Out back, a wide transition pairs the bowl to a short, subtly tapering shank that lifts to meet a flaring fitment of horn, admirably extending the reach of the shank and introducing a lively pop of pale color to the composition. This horn extension expands slowly before swiftly broadening to a firm ridge at its widest point, and this ridge denotes a domed portion of horn at the face whose smart curves unify the look at both ends of this piece. Additionally, this domed face is inlaid with a band of brass, which works to bolster the push-fit of a slender, stylized stem rendered from black vulcanite, with this stem's subdued downturn at the bit lending the pipe a comfortable smoking posture. At the base of the stem, the vulcanite has been shaped to include a dual-stepped style of expansion ring, comprising a ridge that smooths out into a small dome before broadening subtly and forming another ridge: creating negative space between the horn and the stem that draws the eye and balances some of the pipe's visual weight while mirroring the horn's shaping. Dressed in a crisp, earthy sandblast, the stummel reveals rippling bands of growth rings flowing down the walls of the bowl, complete with visible streaks of flame grain and a basin of blasted birdseye at the underside.